How to Use Genmoji: Create Your Own Personalized Emoji on iPhone and Mac

What is Genmoji?

Genmoji is Apple's AI-generated emoji. You describe the emoji you want, and Apple Intelligence draws it in an emoji style. It is different from Memoji, which builds an avatar of your face, and from Animoji, the animated animal faces. Genmoji creates something new each time from your words or from a photo of someone in your library.

Standard emoji come from the official Unicode set, so every device has the same ones. A Genmoji is a custom image that looks and behaves like an emoji. In a message to another iPhone on a recent iOS version, it sits inline with the text. On older iOS versions or Android, it arrives as an image attachment.

It is useful for reactions no standard emoji covers, inside jokes, and specific celebrations. It isn't essential, but once it's set up it takes a few seconds to use.

What you need to use Genmoji

Genmoji first arrived in iOS 18.2 and macOS Sequoia 15.2, and it remains part of Apple Intelligence. That puts the requirements on the hardware.

The dividing line on iPhone is the A17 Pro chip. The regular iPhone 15 runs iOS 27 but cannot use Apple Intelligence; our page on iOS 27 on iPhone 15 explains what that model gets instead. Region and language matter too, and our guide to Apple Intelligence devices and regions covers availability.

Turn on Apple Intelligence first

1. Open Settings › Apple Intelligence & Siri.
2. Turn on Apple Intelligence and tap Continue.
3. Stay on Wi-Fi while the models download in the background.
4. When the download finishes, open the emoji keyboard and look for the Genmoji button.

If anything goes wrong at this stage, our step-by-step guide on how to enable Apple Intelligence on iPhone covers storage, language settings and missing toggles.

How to create a Genmoji on iPhone

1. Open Messages, or any app where you can type.
2. Tap the text field to bring up the keyboard.
3. Tap the emoji button.
4. Tap the Genmoji button at the top right of the emoji keyboard.
5. Type a description, for example "taco wearing a birthday hat".
6. Wait a few seconds, then swipe through the versions it produces.
7. Tap Add to put the one you like into your message.

You can also start from a standard emoji: pick it, then add a description like "wearing a hat" to change it. Apple may move buttons between releases, so if a label differs slightly on your build, look for the same option nearby.

Make a Genmoji based on a person

1. Open the Genmoji interface as above.
2. Tap Concepts, then the person icon.
3. Choose someone from your People album in Photos.
4. Pick the photo to base the Genmoji on.
5. Optionally tap Edit to change hairstyle, facial hair or glasses.
6. Add a description, such as "wearing a chef's hat".
7. Generate, swipe through the results and add the one you like.

The base photo makes a big difference. Clear, well-lit, front-facing shots produce a much better likeness than dark or angled ones. The person has to be identified in the People album, so if they are missing, name them in Photos first.

Save a Genmoji for later

1. After generating, tap the More (•••) button.
2. Choose Add to Stickers.
3. Find it later through the stickers section of the emoji keyboard.

Saved Genmoji sync to your other Apple devices through iCloud, though it can take a few minutes.

Use a Genmoji as a Tapback

1. In a conversation, touch and hold the message you want to react to.
2. Scroll past the standard Tapback reactions.
3. Pick a Genmoji you have made, or tap + to create a new one.

A Genmoji reaction that actually matches the news (a cake with a graduation cap, say) says more than a thumbs-up. Our guide to Apple Intelligence in Messages covers the other AI features in the app.

How to create a Genmoji on Mac

1. Click in any text field.
2. Press Control-Command-Space to open the emoji picker.
3. Click Genmoji.
4. Type a description and let it generate.
5. Use the left and right arrows to browse the versions.
6. Click the one you want to insert it.

• The picker stays open until you click elsewhere, so adding several Genmoji in a row is quick.
• You can drag a Genmoji from the picker into some apps, though not all of them accept it.
• Genmoji you use often show up in the picker's frequently used section.

How to write prompts that work

Short, concrete descriptions give the best results. Genmoji is drawing an emoji, not an illustration, so detail gets lost quickly.

• Keep it plain. "Cat wearing sunglasses" works better than "feline with fashionable eyewear".
• Use a subject plus an action. "Dog playing piano" or "bear eating honey" gives a clear picture.
• Add one or two extras at most. Subject, action, one accessory and maybe a place is plenty; more than that gets messy.
• Try the suggested concepts. Apple's themes, costumes, accessories and places are tuned to work well.
• Regenerate rather than rewrite. If the first set is close, ask again before changing the words.

For more on phrasing requests to Apple's AI tools, see our list of the best Apple Intelligence prompts. If you want a full picture rather than an emoji, Image Playground uses the same kind of descriptions.

Privacy and consent

Genmoji are generated on your device, so the photos you base them on stay on your iPhone or Mac. The bigger question is etiquette: only make Genmoji of people who are happy for you to do so, and think twice before sharing one of someone in a group chat they are not part of.

Practical uses

• Work chats: a quick emoji for a team milestone or a product launch.
• Events: a custom emoji for a wedding, birthday or trip that the group keeps using.
• Teaching: subject-specific emoji such as a microscope with a smiley face.
• Inside jokes: a visual shorthand only your friends will understand.

Genmoji not working? Quick fixes

What to do next

Spend a few days trying different prompts and concepts; the ones you like will become regulars in your chats. If Genmoji is your first Apple Intelligence feature, our beginner's guide to Apple Intelligence shows what else your iPhone can do.

Frequently asked questions